#10 Lady Eagle Bowlers come from behind for 4th tournament victory! #12 Eagles in 3rd!

Waukegan, IL - Down by seven pins going into the final game of the competition, the #10-ranked Robert Morris Gold Women's Bowling team put in a clutch performance to nab a come-from-behind victory over #2-ranked Lindenwood University (MO) in the Eagles NAIA Baker Challenge on January 12 & 13, 2008, at the Sunset Lanes in Waukegan, IL.

This was the fourth tournament win of the season for the Lady Eagles Gold.  RMC-Black also finished in the money, placing fourth in the 12-team field.  RMC-Maroon was eighth and RMC-White tenth.

"That final game was an exciting moment for our teams," said RMC Head Coach Dale Lehman.  "Coming from behind against an established national power is another step up for our program."

In a Baker-scoring competition, five bowlers from each team roll alternate frames on a single line, each member of the squad building on the previous bowler's score.  Thus the final team total scores represent forty individual games, and the Lady Eagles' final tally of 7297 to Lindenwood's 7268 represents a difference of less than one-half of a pin per game over the course of the competition.

The Gold team features four freshman plus a senior and a junior. Kayla Johnson (Freshman, Washington, IL) and Heather D'Errico (Freshman, Rochester, NY) have each won individual titles this season, while veteran Kristen Nielsen (Senior, Horseheads, NY, pictured above at right) has been a model of consistency.  Amy McBee (Freshman, Zion, IL) and Simi Simmons (Freshman, Florissant, MO) have Top 10 finishes on their 2007-2008 resumes, while junior Jocelyn Bradley (Sauk Village, IL) has provided veteran leadership combined with regular finishes in the top half of tournament fields.

That group led the tournament by 207 pins after Saturday's six sets of four games, rolling the highest set of both days with a 909 total, an average of 254 per line.

Despite that red-hot performance, the Gold fell behind Lindenwood by seven pins during the first three sets on Sunday.  That set up the dramatic finish that saw RMC out-roll the Lions by 36 pins to snatch the tournament title.

After finding themselves in ninth place after Day 1, the Black squad leapfrogged five teams in the final round to finish fourth.  Led by a pair of upperclassmen from Zion, IL--senior Alissa Leicht and junior Kim Paulausky--the Black averaged 178.7 in their sixteen games on Sunday.  Three sophomores--Cori Arle (Machesney Park, IL), Christy Sternberg (Antioch, IL), and Jackie Mickiewicz (Winthrop Harbor, IL)--joined with freshman Monica Gerjol to shock such ranked teams as Calumet-St. Joseph (IN) and Bellamine University (KY).

"I'm very proud of the Black team's finish," said Coach Lehman.  "Their performance shows the depth we're building."

After leading the tournament after the first day of play, the #12 RMC Gold Men's Bowling team finished third behind #8 Calumet College of St. Joseph (IN) and #2 Lindenwood in the 15-team men's field.  In their first season of competition, the RMC men have stepped onto the national stage as if they are old hands despite the squad sharing exactly zero seasons of collegiate experience among them.

Freshman Chris Bardol (Brockport, NY) has a led a solid group of fellow freshman to a #12 ranking in the latest National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association poll.  The Bowling Writers Association of America have the Eagles at #14, while collegebowling.com has them at #16.  "Whatever ranking you want to use," says Coach Lehman, "it's a great accomplishment for a first-year program."

Besides Bardol, already a two-time individual medalist this season, each member of the team--Joe Vrobel (Fondulac, WI), Ken Fisher (Lake Zurich, IL), Kyle Mauermann (Tremont, IL), Larry Bigger (Shorewood, IL), and Josh Scanlon (Wildwood, IL)--has stepped up at different times this season.  They have garnered a number of individual Top 20 finishes among them.

Both teams are idle this weekend.  They return to action on January 26 & 27, 2008 at the Blue & Gold Classic in South Bend, IN.